Lego Land

Finally got a picture on to Railpictures.net

2009-07-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

These guys are pretty picky about what goes up, so I have been making a point to not try more than once a week. Yesterday I had near perfect conditions on my way to work.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=291634

I have another shot from the same time(see below-click on it to see it full size), but it was rejected as being too much like the first one. Bummer, because it has a second job (train) behind the first. Oh well. Today it is storming and gray, so there is little point of even looking for a shot.

-Lego

2009-07-07T17:30:00.001-07:00

Well, having tinkered and rebuilt the things a half dozen times, my offline version of FYM is finally on the right track. I've pretty much abandoned the last plan of rebuilding a Milwaukee Road clone because the sat images are too poor and I wanted to get moving forward with running traffic. So for now I'm using a small mix of maps from the game as well as my own creations. I've highjacked Northtown yard (it is in Washington state now :) ) for my initial classification yard and I'm using IM trackage as large team tracks (transloading facilities... hence all those trucks) :)

Almost all traffic right now is manifest while I get the baseline movement going. When you first start out with this everything is very clean cut and sterile looking. Only after a half dozens runs does it really start to 'look' more like a railroad.

I've also added a few more locomotives to the roster. Mainly just the GE Boxcabs (regular and bobtails) from the MR's electrified areas. (I've declared all of Washington state to be electrified). I don't know if I'll add the Quill motors or the switchers but the Little Joes EF-4 will be on the next rebuild. I'm also planning on adding a few steam engines, but I need to figure out their horsepower ratings first. I might also add the Baldwin centercabs...

... this of course brings me to something I'm also considering... back dating FYM to around 1950. The length of cars is easily changed. Some car types are not around yet (grain hoppers were in their infancy for example, and automobiles were hauled in boxcars (almost everything was).

Heck backdating to the late 1800s could be cool too, but the maps will be a challenge. They would almost have to be abstracts. That and fuel appears to be hard coded in to the game, so there is little way to reduce the ranges of the locomotives. A 4-4-0 with a 3000 mile range seems a little silly.

-Lego

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Yippy, we are still free. North Korea celebrated today with us by firing off 7 SCUD-type missiles in to the ocean (about the smallest thing they could hit accurately with those). In the US we fired off millions of smaller rockets (and probably hurt more people doing it).

Freight Yard Manager

2009-07-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

What is it, a simulation of the operations of North American (well, US and Canadian) railroads where people each control small sections (called yards) to keep things running. Think of it as a giant model railroad. It is interesting and the crowd can be fun to listen to.

But it also has its downsides. Tongiht I find myself leaving PA as a yardmaster becuase the people operating (or maybe it is just a single person) don't seem to care what they move.
-trains with engines on the wrong end
-trains sent to me for a different yard
-damaged equipment
-no fuel

Since the train could have been moved (or screwed up by anybody) I'm not going to both making a big deal about it. I'll just retire my yard in PA (like my neighbor has done with his). The impact on the game will be minimal.

Actually I'm finding myself bored becuase there isn't much work to be done right now, so I am back to working on my off-line version again. A mythical transcon run from Minneapolis to Tacoma... very roughly following the Milwaukee Road's old trackage.

Where am I right now..

2009-06-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Just got home from work. Surfing www.railpictures.net Maybe I'll get something posted there someday. Yeah, trains are a big thing to me. :)

OK, to blog again.

2009-06-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this is probably my third of fourth attemp to blog. I'll try harder this time... may the SPAM demons ignore this little corner.